GAME REPORT

Wisla Complete Sweep Of Nadezhda

Wisla guard Erin Phillips was hot from long range, shooting 6 of 7 from behind the arc for a game-high 22 points

Wisla Can-Pack Krakow cooled off Nadezhda with a 2-0 sweep in the EuroLeague Women Eighth-Finals.

The Polish club, looking to make it to the Final Four for the second year running, won Game Two on Friday in Orenburg, Russia, 72-63, to advance to the last eight.

Wisla's Erin Phillips drilled six of her seven shots from long range en route to a game-high 22 points while winter-break signing Nicole Powell added 17 points and also pulled down a team-best nine rebounds.

Friday's result has brought a sudden stop to Nadezdha's participation in the competition this season.

They had won four of their last five Qualifying Round games, boasted the best newcomer in the competition in USA international Tina Charles and even had an extra bounce in their step after upsetting Sparta&K M.R. Vidnoje in the Russian Cup semi-finals.

The wins dried up, though.

After falling to UMMC Ekaterinburg in the cup final, they returned to Europe and lost two straight.

Nadezhda had threatened to win Game 1 in Poland but lost 75-70.

On Friday, they went in front by eight points late in the second quarter but weren't able to build on the advantage.

Nadezhda did keep their noses in front for the third quarter but Wisla went in front to stay when a Paulina Pawlak three-ball gave them a 57-54 lead with 5:33 to go.

Charles did her bit on Friday, scoring 19 points and pulling down eight rebounds, while Belarus international Anastasiya Verameyenka added 15 points and eight boards and Olga Ovcharenko contributed 13.

But Becky Hammon wasn't at her best in the two-game series.

She played less than 13 minutes on Friday, scoring two points and turning the ball over three times.

Wisla had too many weapons.

The visitors out-rebounded Nadezhda 44-33 and also shot lights out from long range, burying 11 of 21 (52.3%) compared to five of 18 (27.7%) for Nadezhda.

Pawlak finished three of four from long range and had 11 points.

Yelena Leuchanka weighed in with nine points and five boards for Wisla.

COACH QUOTES

Quotes Nadezhda - Wisla Can-Pack

Jose Ignacio Hernández, Wisla Can-Pack head coach:"We are very happy that we qualified among the eight strongest teams in Europe. Our opponent was very strong. Today's match was a hard fight, both teams wanted to win, but we had carefully studied the opponent and it helped us in the end. In the end my team had fun, we were able to reverse the course of the match to our favour."

Yelena Leuchanka, Wisla Can-Pack player:"During my career, I had to play [many times] against Nadezhda. Those were hard games that we won only in the end. Today we had to play hard against their leading players - Tina Charles and Anastasiya Verameyenka. But in general we played well in defense and achieved such an important victory."

Alexander Yermolinsky, Nadezhda assistant coach:"To continue the fight in the EuroLeague, we needed to win today, but the match was very difficult for the team. For more than half of the match we kept a small advantage, but at the crucial moment the Polish team regained their composure and began to play harder. We lost the defensive rebounds - that was an important and crucial aspect of the game..."